Dudley's Christmas Wish
by lady.edgecombe
Summary: A four year old Dudley makes a special wish to Santa. Will Santa grant it? I do not own Harry Potter nor make any money from this story and I obviously have watched too many Christmas movies.


It was a sight to see, the skinny, almost anorexic woman with the whale of a child dragging him as he was screaming "I wanna see Santa!"

"Hush now Dudley, Santa isn't here yet, he won't arrive for another hour. Then we can go see him."

Dudley had seen the Christmas throne set up for the jolly old man to arrive. He was four this year and thought he was ready for a big boy's bike instead of the three wheeled bike he had at home. He wanted to make sure Santa knew he was old enough, now, to ride a big bike. He also had another special wish that he hadn't dared to write about. A secret wish for him and his parents that he couldn't tell anyone but the bearded old man. Not even one of Santa's elves was important enough to tell this secret to.

As Petunia walked around the mall with her son's hand firmly held in her's, she barely spared a thought for the little boy back home locked in his cupboard. The child had spilled Dudley's milk last night and his punishment had been a backhand across his cheek and locked in his 'room' for two days without food. Vernon had said, "If the freak is going to waste food, he is not getting any." Personally, Petunia just wished the child would disappear and never come back.

At number 4 Privet Drive a small child was locked once again in the small cupboard under the stairs. He was hungry and in pain and really didn't understand why his family treated him differently than Dudley, but he knew that he was a freak and nobody wanted him. His relatives (he had already been taught the difference between family and being related to people) didn't want him here so he didn't understand why he was here in the first place. He wished he could have gone with his cousin and aunt so he could ask Santa if he could have another home for Christmas. His uncle had said Christmas presents were not for freaks, but he thought perhaps Santa would find a place for him; somewhere people like him could live.

Back at the shopping mall, Petunia was putting several packages in the boot of the car so she could take Dudley to see Santa. She didn't want to have to worry about her precious son and the packages at the same time.

Dudley kept pulling on her hand, her arm, her skirt and getting louder about wanting to see Santa and being the first one in line. Petunia already knew they wouldn't be first as the line was quite long already. She hoped her son didn't cause too much of a problem while waiting. As was expected, as soon as they approached the line, Dudley started screaming at his mother about getting there too late. All these other people were in line first and he wanted to be the first to see Santa!

It was Piers mother that saved the situation. They had come almost an hour ago and had been waiting in line. Piers had been talking about his friend joining him, so it was easy for her to convince the people around her that they had been holding a spot for Dudley and his mother. They were only tenth in line. She got Petunia's attention and motioned her over to let her know they had saved them a spot. Petunia had a very grateful smile on her face as she calmed Dudley down and moved over to where Piers and his mother were standing. Dudley, very glad to see his friend, settled down and didn't say any more about being first in line. He and Piers started playing with a toy that Piers' mother brought to keep the boys busy while waiting.

Petunia knew her son was a little spoiled. No one could help but notice. She and Vernon agreed that in order to put that freak in his place, it was important to show him he was not loved and Dudley was. They had been trying to make the dark haired child understand that he was unloved, unwanted and a burden to everyone around him. If Dudley got a little spoiled in the process, what was wrong with that?

Little four year old Dudley was very nervous, he wanted to talk to Santa NOW! But he knew bad little boys didn't get their wishes fulfilled from the jolly old man with the long white beard. He kept watching as the old man in the red suit finally came into view and the first child went forward to talk to him and have his picture taken. Everyone was taking too long. He hopped from foot to foot in nervous anticipation of being able to talk to the man. He just knew this was the answer to his whole problem.

His hands were sweating and he was pulling on his shirt as his hands were a little shaky. Six kids were already done and the seventh was sent up to see the man in the red suit. The eighth little girl cried as soon as her mother approached the strange looking man so the ninth went up to take her place. Piers had already told Dudley he could go first, knowing his friend could be very vindictive if he didn't get his own way.

Finally! It was Dudley's turn to sit on the old man's lap. He approached hesitantly as he focused on what he wanted to ask the old man. As he finally arrived, he was lifted by those red clad arms onto the lap of the ancient old man.

"Well, little man, what is your name?" the man asked in his old cheerful voice.

Dudley looked at him, almost afraid to say what he wanted, but this was Santa! He knew everything and he could get him what he wanted. He gathered up his courage and finally talked to the old man.

"I want a new bike and some army men and a new video game. Also, Santa, I was wondering if you could give me one more thing?"

"And what would that be son?"

Dudley leaned in close to whisper in the white hair covered ear, "I was hoping that when you come and bring my gifts, you could take my freak of a cousin back with you? Mommy says he is a burden to our family and we don't want him, never really did."

If it hadn't been for the long white beard and the bushy eyebrows, everyone in the mall would have seen the shocked face of the kindly old man.

He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, "Well, young Mr. Dursley, I will see what I can do." he answered the young man. No one noticed when he made a slight hand movement, nor heard the slight 'pop' above all the noise in the shopping center. Piers went up next with a list to give to Santa, as Petunia collected her precious offspring.

"What did you tell Santa, Dudley?" his mother inquired.

"Oh, I told him what toys I wanted. He said he would try to get me everything. Mum, do you think I have been a good boy this year?"

"Of course Dudley, you are always a good boy."

A wide grin split across the face of the four year old as he held his mother's hand while they made their way to the car to go back home.

Sitting quietly in his cupboard the small child was waiting for someone to let him out. He had been locked in there when his aunt left and he was waiting for them to return. He didn't understand why he lived here, he just knew his parents had died and the Dursleys got stuck with him. He desperately wished he could go live somewhere else. Christmas was only a few weeks away, but he knew he wouldn't get anything, he never did.

Dudley was being insufferable again. Every time Harry went outside in his too large clothes, Dudley and Dudley's friends decided to harass Harry. He was a fast runner, but when they ganged up on him sometimes he couldn't get away. Today was the worse yet. Dudley and Piers had been pushing him and hitting him while he was shoveling snow from the walkway. Harry had to get this done before Uncle Vernon came home and they kept throwing mud at him and getting everything dirty faster than he could clean it. Dudley also kept saying that Santa would have a special surprise this Christmas, teasing Harry about how he didn't deserve any gifts from Santa because he was a freak.

Harry was locked in his cupboard that night and as he thought about the day, he was very heartbroken. He didn't want to be a freak; he just wanted to be a normal boy with a normal family.

Christmas Eve brought Aunt Marge to the Dursley's house for a visit. Her dog Ripper kept chasing after Harry as he did his chores, Dudley was even more insufferable (if that was possible) and Harry couldn't wait for the day to be over and he could hide in his cupboard. Sure enough, early in the evening, Harry was once again locked in so the others could continue their celebrations. It was a family tradition that Dudley got to open one present on Christmas Eve

Thump.

Thump.

Harry woke up out of his sleep. At first he thought Aunt Petunia was banging on his door to wake him up, but then he realized it wasn't time to wake up and everything was quiet upstairs.

Thump.

At this point the little boy didn't know if he really heard something or if it was his heart beating so loud it just sounded like a thump.

He leaned up against the door and tried to see through the small vent on the door. Everything was in shadow but then the latch on the door came undone and the door swung open. Harry slunk back into a corner of the cupboard and waited to see what was going to happen next.

Suddenly he saw a red suit and a white beard and Harry's eyes grew big as saucers. There was an elf in a green suit standing next to the bearded man and as he pointed to the small boy. Harry knew he had never seen this man before and he had never seen anything like this in all the time he had lived in the cupboard under the stairs.

He just knew he must have done something very bad if he was being pointed to by Santa's helper and he started to shake in fear of what would happen next. He thought maybe he had been so bad for so long, that Santa had come to punish him since he didn't have a stocking to put coal in.

"S S SSSanta?" the young boy spoke in barely a whisper. He was curled up in a ball as small as he could make his body, shaking and his bright green eyes as big as he could make them to see everything that was going to happen.

"Hello, Harry" the old man said quietly, "how about you come out of there and talk to me?"

Harry hesitated for a few moments but then uncurled himself to crawl out of the small space to face his doom. He would be brave and take his punishment the way his uncle had taught him. He knew from experience that if you tried to avoid being disciplined, it was always worse.

As the small green eyed boy stood outside his 'room' he looked at the old man and said, "Yes Sir?" then he lowered his head and looked at the floor.

The old man looked at the young boy with a smile on his face and asked, "Harry, would you like to leave here and live somewhere else?"

"Sir?" He really didn't understand the question, wasn't Santa here to punish him? Harry jerked his head up to look at the man again and saw that both the old man and the elf beside him were smiling back at him. Hesitantly the little boy gave the old man a shy smile back in response.

"Someone told me that you might like to live somewhere else. So, I came to find out if that is what you truly want" the old man said in a quiet voice.

Harry didn't know what to answer; what if the place Santa put him was worse than here? He still thought he was going to be punished for something. Wasn't his uncle always telling him how bad he was?

The old man suddenly realized that he needed to assure Harry that he was not in trouble and was a good boy and deserved a special place to live that would appreciate him for the special boy that he was.

"Oh, my child, I am not here to punish you, I am here because the Dursleys are the bad ones and they don't deserve to have a special boy like you living with them. They are on the naughty list, not you Harry" the old man explained as he opened his arms to give Harry a hug.

Harry pulled back for a minute and then allowed the man to hug him and pick him up. He then walked over to a chair in the living room, where the Christmas tree was, to talk to the little boy.

It was nice sitting in Santa's lap. Harry got a warm feeling all over and also felt safe for the first time since his parents died. He curled up against the red velvet covered chest and smelled the scents of cinnamon and nutmeg. It smelled just like Christmas.

"Well, young man, if we are to take you away and give you a new home; then we have to replace you with another child so no one will miss you. It wouldn't do for people to notice you are missing."

Harry's face suddenly got very still at the old man's words. He didn't want anyone else to have to suffer with this family. "That's alright Santa, I will stay here. I don't want anyone else to…" he couldn't say it. He couldn't tell this man how mean these people were and he didn't want another child to suffer with them.

"You misunderstand me Harry. Perhaps it would be easier for me to show you." The old man took some sparkly dust from his pocket and threw it in the air, then waved his hand as the dust fell to the floor. Harry winced and closed his eyes as he thought about the mess he was going to have to clean up tomorrow and the trouble he would be in.

The small boy felt a rush of warmth going though him and opened one eye to peek at what may have happened. What he saw before him made him step back a pace in surprise. Standing before him was a duplicate of himself but in the form of a doll or a robot or something. He didn't know exactly what he was seeing, but it was almost like looking in a mirror.

"What…?" Harry had been rendered speechless. "What is that?" he asked as he turned to look at the old man with the sparkling twinkle in his eyes.

"That, my dear Harry, is a doll of sorts. It will take your place so we can take you somewhere else to live." The man's voice was warm and kindly and he seemed sincere, but how was a doll going to take his place?

"But won't my aunt and uncle know the difference? How did you make it?" Harry was curious now. He didn't see Santa bring in a doll and how did he know how to make it look like him?

"That my dear boy is what we call Christmas magic."

"But Uncle Vernon says there is no such thing as magic." Harry felt he should tell the man.

"That doesn't mean it does not exist. There is magic everywhere you look. How do you think flowers grow or imagine a tree emerging from a little seed no bigger than your fingernail?"

"I never thought about it like that." Harry looked in awe of the bearded man.

"Now, all we have to do is transfer your memories into the computer microchip. Do you know what a computer is Harry?"

The little boy shook his head no and looked asking to the old man.

"A computer will hold information and in this case will make the doll act just like you. When we are finished, these people will not know that this is anything other than you."

"How do we do that? Will it hurt?"

"Not at all, just close your eyes and let your mind drift. I will do the rest."

Harry closed his eyes and thought about the blue sky on a clear day and the sun beating down on his face. He felt that warm feeling coming from the old man again but kept his eyes closed.

The red clad man took out his wand and pulled a very long string of silvery fluid from the little boy. He was not removing his memories, but duplicating them to put into the doll that was still standing next to Harry. When he was finished he waved his wand at the life-size doll and with a glamour spell the doll took on the exact image of Harry Potter with all his movements and mannerisms just as if it was the child himself.

After putting away his wand he said, "Harry, you may open your eyes now."

Harry opened his eyes and now the doll looked exactly like a human Harry. He turned to the duplicate of himself and said, "Hello."

The duplicate Harry held out his hand and said, "Hello, my name is Harry Potter."

Harry turned to the other occupant in the room and said, "Wow! He looks just like me! He even has my scar." He actually forgot to whisper in his surprise then clapped his hand over his mouth in fear that he may have woken his relatives. He listened carefully for any sounds coming from upstairs but all was quiet.

"No one can hear us Harry, it is part of the Christmas magic" the bearded man explained after seeing the look on the boy's face. "What would happen if everyone could hear Santa coming into their house?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess that wouldn't be good."

"Now are you ready to go? We will have to leave most of your things here, but if there is something you would like to take with you then you should get it" Santa said as he stood up.

"What about my clothes, Sir?"

"As your duplicate will have to wear them, you will have new clothes and toys as soon as we return to the North Pole."

"I'm going to the North Pole?" the small boy asked in wonder.

The bearded man nodded his head with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Wow" the little boy said. "I've never had new clothes before!" Happiness brightening the child's voice like nothing the man had heard since he had arrived.

Then the man took Harry's hand and headed for the fireplace, throwing a little powder from his pocket into the blaze, he picked up Harry and went up the chimney. He had a lot of things to do so Harry was put into a deep sleep and wrapped up in a fur blanket until they finally reached their destination.

He woke the child just as they were about a mile away from the castle in the North Pole.

"Wow, Mr. Santa, I didn't mean to go to sleep! I am riding Santa's sleigh. Look at the reindeer fly!"

The wizened old man chuckled for a moment and pointed to a small speck on the horizon. That is where I live and what will be your new home.

Back at the Dursley's the elf that stayed behind with the doll turned into Harry's double was making haste to have the house ready before the silencing charms wore off. He knew exactly what to do. Suddenly the Christmas tree was brighter; there was an added stocking for Harry. Harry's clothes were in pristine condition and fit him perfectly and half the presents under the tree were now tagged To: Harry Potter.

The cupboard suddenly became larger with its own bathroom and playroom, and a large cushy comfortable bed to sleep in. Half of the broken toys in Dudley's second bedroom were brought down and repaired in a blink to put on the shelves in Harry's playroom. Now, just to let you know, the doll didn't really need all those toys, but Dudley wasn't using them and appearances had to be made as if little Harry still lived here.

The glamour would hold as long as they needed it too. Santa would have to come back once a year to renew it, but that was no problem for him. It was very difficult magic to take the place of another human.

So the Harry duplicate lived as if he were the boy who lived. Because he had his own magic and all of Harry's memories no one ever suspected that he was different. He had all Harry's abilities and Santa came every year to renew the charms that made him look like Harry James Potter.

But what about the real Harry? Well he lived his life at the North Pole, educated by the best tutors and helped Santa every year with Christmas. He learned about time turners, about his magic and about the magic of the North Pole. He had his lessons with other elfin children and later with a few other children that had been rescued from the clutches of bad guardians. All of them magical and all of them highly educated.

By the time Harry was Seventeen, the elf came back after the doll Harry had a big battle with the darkest wizard of all time. Harry could now leave the North Pole and live his life as it was meant to be. But, he loved his Papa Noel and continued to live and work at the North Pole. One of the children that Santa 'rescued' was a wonderful girl that he later married. This was his home and this was how he chose to live his life. Helping others gave him a wonderful feeling and he loved doing just that.

Oh, the Dursleys you ask? Well they were quite startled when they woke up on Christmas Day and found their nephew out of his locked room and in nice well fitting clothes even down to the shoes that were a black leather and looked very expensive. When Ripper came running towards him snarling and snapping at him, just before he was a half meter away, he yelped and turned around and ran from the room.

Dudley moaned and cried that Harry had gotten presents that Christmas, but every time he tried to take some of his cousins things he started to feel sick and a few times it was like a shock of electricity. So he stopped and left Harry's things alone.

Vernon and Petunia Dursley never did understand what happened that Christmas. Dudley had cried for hours telling them Santa didn't give him the one present he really wanted. No matter how much they tried, they couldn't get him to say what he really wanted. That he had asked Santa to take that freak away.

And the elf? Well he stayed with the Harry doll all those years to make sure that their secret was not discovered. No one ever saw him, but some of the bouts of accidental magic over the years were performed by him.

Yes Harry's letter did come to the 'Cupboard under the stairs' but when the Dursleys tried to move Harry to the littlest bedroom, he refused and said he wanted to stay where he was. They never found out how the cupboard was expanded nor that the unwanted child was living in more space than all the upstairs bedrooms combined. It still looked like a small cupboard to them.

And the Harry doll? Well it wasn't long after the final battle that it short circuited. It had done its job and was magically transported back to the North Pole. Harry Potter was never seen again, except on a small occasion when a child accidentally saw Santa and his helper setting presents under the tree. Together they kept the spirit of Christmas alive and well for many, many years.


End file.
